SOS (Safety Orange Swimmers)

Ann Hirsch and Jeremy Angier were selected to create a new floating sculpture for this fall’s Fort Point Arts Community Floating Public Art project. This project marks twelve years of FPAC’s collaboration with Friends of Fort Point Channel on temporary public art in the Fort Point Channel. The project is also funded by the Fort Point Channel Operations Board.

SOS (Safety Orange Swimmers) will float in the Art Basin in early October and will remain on view for approximately 6 weeks.

SOS (Safety Orange Swimmers) will be composed of 20+ large scale figures cast from a single mold. Painted in “Safety Orange,” the figures swim with salvaged black inner tubes that have been re-purposed as personal floatation devices. S.O.S. invokes the Fort Point Channel Basin as a metaphor for the seas across which people have always traveled in search of shelter, freedom, prosperity and safety; seas in which they have often lost their lives. The Swimmers symbolize the world’s refugees and migrants, and the long history of global migration on which our city and nation are largely built.

Artists Ann Hirsch & Jeremy Angier hope to provoke discussions about the changing identity of the Channel by asking: how are we, a city in the midst of an economic boom, responding to the current global refugee crisis?

About the Artists

A + J Art and Design is a new, multidisciplinary collaboration between local artists Ann Hirsch and Jeremy Angier, who share a commitment to site-specificity, interactivity and community engagement.

Ann Hirsch has completed numerous public art commissions of scale across the U.S. In 2013, she gained wide recognition for the Bill Russell Legacy Project at Boston City Hall Plaza, a public artwork that is part sculpture and part interactive playground. Other recent commissions include large format bronze wall sculptures for the east entry to Patriot Plaza at Sarasota National Cemetery, FL and Grand Rapids Community Legends, MI. She teaches at Rhode Island School of Design.

Jeremy Angier heads Boston-based machinegraphics, a 3D-animation firm which creates animations and visualizations for documentary and science-based films, museum interactives, and exhibits. His work can be found at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, Discovery Cube in Los Angeles, the National Park Service Grand Canyon Visitor Center, the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, and the Petronas Visitor Center in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

PUBLIC ART PROJECTS FOR SPRING 2016 Open Studios
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Why Chromasome, by Lindsay Baer

photo: Lindsay Baer

This installation examines cisgender expectations: plants growing from a male and female mannequin will ultimately merge the figures into one, inviting viewers to engage with personal complicity in the cisgender system.Location: Harborwalk, near Necco Court This project is funded by The Fort Point Channel Operations Board with funds from the Chapter 91 Waterways Regulations License #11419 for Russia Wharf, now Atlantic Wharf. The Fort Point Channel Operations Board is made up of representatives from the City of Boston, the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, and the Fort Point Channel Abutters Group, who oversee the implementation of public benefits required from private development along the Fort Point Channel.

Beacons: A Puzzling Voyage, by Emily Cobb

Seek out each of the five colorful beacons around the neighborhood! These interactive sculptures–made with bright paint and reclaimed junk–are inspired by way-finding, geometry, and visual perception. Explore the puzzles, illusions, and brain-twisters contained in each one. Location: Check #fpacpublicart on social media for location clues! This project is generously funded by Fund for the Arts, a public art program of the New England Foundation for the Arts. photo: Sylvia Stagg-Giuliano

Shimmer, by Claudia Ravaschiere and Michael Moss

Fluorescent and jewel toned plexiglass activates the Congress Street Bridge spanning Fort Point Channel and changes the public perception of a familiar urban environment. #shimmerfortpoint This project is supported by a grant from the Fort Point Channel Operations Board with funds from the Chapter 91 Waterways Regulations License #11419 for Russia Wharf, now Atlantic Wharf. Additional support for Shimmer comes from the Boston Art Commission and the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority.

Double Trouble, by Ken Reker

Image courtesy of Ken Reker

This mixed-media/found object assemblage sculpture examines our titanic love affair with plastic and petroleum-based products. Location: Gillette Dock on the Harborwalk, near Necco Court This project is generously funded by Fund for the Arts, a public art program of the New England Foundation for the Arts. To view past public art, view the archives page.

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Celestial: Winter Lights on the Harbor

On view December 13, 2015 through February 2016Artist Talk and Opening Celebration: Thursday, December 17, 2015, from 5:30–7:00 pm, at Waterfront Plaza, with sips and snacks from participating Atlantic Wharf restaurants The temporary installation Celestial is suspended from the outdoor pergola adjacent to the Atlantic Wharf building at Waterfront Plaza, 290 Congress Street. Consisting of sculptural forms and glowing orbs, the installation’s elements are positioned to suggest human figures in motion among celestial bodies. Symbolizing humanity’s relationship to the universe, both seen and unseen, Celestial evokes the timeless wonder of the night sky and our enduring fascination with stargazing and the possibilities of planetary exploration. Through the coming dark winter nights, the installation’s forms and illumination will provide a focal point and a beacon for passersby on Congress Street and the Harbor Walk. Claudia Ravaschiere and Michael Moss are artists based out of Fort Point and have developed and installed many works of public art in the neighborhood over the past decade. Past projects include Bright Side of the Road II (2015), which transformed a neglected city space on Congress Street into an unexpected, gardenlike oasis through “guerilla urban gardening” and Shimmer, an installation of fluorescent and jewel-toned plexiglass that activated the Congress Street bridge in Fort Point (“Follow the Fort Point Rainbow,“ Steve Annear, BostonMagazine.com, August 21, 2014). This project is generously funded by Boston Properties. Photo: Sylvia Stagg: Giuliano __________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Who Wears Wool? Hilary Zelson

On view through December 2015PRESS RELEASEFPAC is pleased to announce that Hilary Zelson was selected to create a new floating sculpture for this fall’s Fort Point Arts Community Floating Public Art project. This project marks eleven years of FPAC’s collaboration with Friends of Fort Point Channel on temporary public art in the Fort Point Channel. The project is also funded by the Fort Point Channel Operations Board. Who Wears Wool floats in the Art Basin (between Summer and Congress Street Bridges) and will remain on view through the end of November. The installation was timed to coincide with FPAC’s 36th Open Studios event. More than 150 artists opened their studio doors to thousands of visitors in celebration of 36 years of Open Studios in Fort Point. The sculptural installation is composed of two large-scale multicolored sheep fashioned from recycled and new materials that are approximately 12’ tall and rest on a 10’ x 10’ dock, engaging the audience through an imaginative, otherworldly experience in the harbor environment. Although visually light hearted, Who Wears Wool reflects the significant history of art and business in Fort Point. The history and influence of Boston’s wool trade is largely unknown today, yet the cycle of its rise and fall parallels key contemporary issues. Through a comedic lens, the artwork hints at gentrification, class structure, sustainability, outsourcing locally versus overseas, environmentalism, consumerism, and the shift of industrial production from natural handmade materials to inexpensive synthetic materials.

Artist at Work, John Hansen

On view Fall 2015 during Fort Point Open Studios

This project featured a plexiglass and solar LED sculpture by John Hansen, and is installed on the Fort Point Harborwalk. Funded by the Fort Point Operations Board. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Electric Pilgrims included a variety of video projections that illuminated Channel Center Street, featuring sound, live light projections, an interactive television wall, and video and slide projections on screens and across the buildings in a spectacular installation. The centerpiece of the multimedia experience was a main screen that showcased four video projections by Emerson College filmmakers, alumni, and colleagues including Interim Dean of the School of the Arts Robert Sabal, visual and audio media artist Andrew Neumann, New York and Boston media artist T. Marie, and St. Louis artist Van McElwee.

Toll With Me, Gianna Stewart

How often do you find yourself walking A Street towards the bridge, your hand dragging along a chain link fence?

8,500 bells, each one hanging from a simple jump ring in the openings of the chain link fence, will be installed along A Street in an undulating form. The bells’ metallic finish will catch the sun on bright day, and, says Stewart “they will reveal the invisible winds that walk with us on A Street. I believe a simple gesture like these bells becoming part of an everyday object—the fence along A Street—is a way to bring poetry to the everyday.”

Gianna Stewart is a Boston-based sculptor with a strong interest in public art. She received her MFA from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston 2014.

Toll With Me will be located on A Street on the fence bordering the US Post Office parking lot, between Wormwood and Melcher Streets. The installation will be on display beginning May 11th. The artist will begin installing the project on May 7th and 10th, and invites the public to take part in the final installation over Open Studios weekend, May 15-17th.

Toll With Me is made possible by generous support from a grant from The South Boston Community Development Foundation.

Bright Side of the Road II,Michael Moss and Claudia Ravaschiere

Using quirky, colorful, everyday objects, Bright Side II transforms an underutilized plot of land to create an unexpected, gardenlike oasis in an otherwise neglected city space on Congress Street. Creating a usable area through an act of “guerilla urban gardening”. Viewers are invited to become participants in the transformation and re-evaluation of the nature of the site, and more broadly, change their perception and relationship to the encountered space.

The artists chose to use orange as the primary color for transforming this area because it is said that orange is a power color. In many cultures, orange symbolizes healing. It stimulates enthusiasm, creativity and vitality.

Funded by a grant from the South Boston Community Development Foundation. With special thanks to Berkeley Investments and Pastoral for allowing the project to be installed in this location.

The artists also thank Abraham Brownell and John Travis for their assistance.

Artist at Work, John Hansen

This project featured a plexiglass and solar LED sculpture by John Hansen installed on the Fort Point Harborwalk. Funded by the Fort Point Operations Board.

Public Art Projects in conjunction with Fall Open Studios 2014

Shimmer, Claudia Ravaschiere and Michael Moss

“Shimmer” is a temporary public art installation by Fort Point artists Claudia Ravaschiere and Michael Moss. Using the refractive qualities of florescent and jewel toned plexi glass, this piece activates the the Congress Street Bridge and changes the public perception of a familiar urban environment. The piece is constructed to catch the natural and ambient light to create a luminous field of color and alternating hues. The visual impact of the “Shimmer” will change as the light changes throughout the day.

A Close Knit Community- Roots and Growth, Kristen Alexandra

Crochet leaves, vines and roots in a color palette of varying browns for the roots, greens for the vines and fall colors like burnt orange, deep yellow, and green leaves will be installed on either on a fence in the Fort Point neighborhood. This piece will honor the deep seeded roots of the neighborhood and celebrate its vibrant growth over the years. Funded through a grant from the Fund for the Arts, a public art program of the New England Foundation for the Arts.

PYR 2014, Don Eyles

In 1998 Fort Point artist Don Eyles floated his first pyramid in Fort Point Channel, marking the water as a venue for art and opening the doors to years of temporary art installations to come. The installation was a bold move, made independently, and completely self-funded.

“Consider the history has passed along the cobbled streets of Boston — all the men and women, famous or unremembered, who have walked and rode here, crossed our bridges, gathered in our public spaces, imported and exported, bought and sold — always with granite cobblestones beneath their feet and wheels. I have long dreamed of making this history tangible, by constructing a great pyramid from the cobblestones uprooted by the City’s recent development.”

Eyles’ newest pyramid, PYR 2014 will float in the Art Basin (between Summer and Congress Street Bridges) in early October. After one month, the piece will move south of the Summer Street Bridge.

This project is funded by the Fort Point Operations Board and Friends of Fort Point Channel.

Flower Blanket, the Farewell to Summer, Liliana Folta

A folded, flowered blanket made from multicolored, weather resistant materials and solar powered LED lighting. This installation highlighted the new location for MIFP, on the backside of 315 A Street, along the Haul Road. The piece was accompanied by flower paper and mixed media installations for the two windows (indoor). Funded through a grant from the Fund for the Arts, a public art program of the New England Foundation for the Arts.

Flutter, Claudia Ravaschiere and Mike Moss

This public art installation will be composed of laser-cut butterflies designed by the artists and assembled in a random configuration along the US Postal Service fence on A Street. Flutter celebrates the diverse, cross-cultural significance of the butterfly: transformation, freedom, joy, and the power — and inevitability ― of change. Funded through a grant from the Fund for the Arts, a public art program of the New England Foundation for the Arts.

Location: US Postal Fence on A Street

Support for FPAC’s Public Art Series is provided by a grant from the Fort Point Channel Operations Board with funds from the Chapter 91 Waterways Regulations License #11419 for Russia Wharf, now Atlantic Wharf. The Fort Point Channel Operations Board is made up of representatives from the City of Boston, the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, and the Fort Point Channel Abutters Group, who oversee the implementation of public benefits required from private development along the Fort Point Channel.

Tropical Fort Point, Peter Agoos

April 28 – June 15, 2014

Peter Agoos’ ‘Tropical Fort Point’ kicks off FPAC public art in 2014 and the lead up to FPAC Spring Open Studios. See it when it goes up April 28th, and read below for information on the project in his own words:

“The struggle for quality public open space in the neighborhood and the likelihood of climate change-induced rising sea levels are the conceptual parents of Tropical Fort Point.”

Tropical Fort Point and Fort Point’s Floating Art Series is made possible by the generous support of Friends of Fort Point Channel, a nonprofit organization committed to making the Fort Point Channel an exciting and welcoming destination for all of Boston’s residents, workforce and visitors. For more information, please visit www.friendsoffortpointchannel.org. Friends of Fort Point Channel has partnered with The Fort Point Arts Community since 2005 to activate the Fort Point Channel with temporary displays of public art.

Additional support for Tropical Fort Point is provided by a grant from the Fort Point Channel Operations Board with funds from the Chapter 91 Waterways Regulations License #11419 for Russia Wharf, now Atlantic Wharf. The Fort Point Channel Operations Board is made up of representatives from the City of Boston, the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, and the Fort Point Channel Abutters Group, who oversee the implementation of public benefits required from private development along the Fort Point Channel.

Tropical Fort Point was selected by a jury of artists, arts professionals, and community members. FPAC thanks our selection panel:

i wandered, Kate Gilbert and Karen Shanley

May 8-June 3, 2014

This project celebrates the joyous arrival of spring and invites you to explore the Fort Point through poetry. Large graphic daffodils and select phrases from “I Wandered Lonely As a Cloud”, William Wordsworth’s 1807 poem about discovering a “host of dancing daffodils,” can be found in five different spots around the neighborhood—encouraging us to consider “the sparkling waves of glee,” to closely observe our geography and place, and to reconnect with the lost art of meditative walking.

silver lining, elisa hamilton

May 9th: 4-7pm, May 10th and 11th from 12-5pm

Silver Lining is an inclusive exploration of our relationship with hope that invites the public to engage in the brilliance of possibility. All are invited to literally “take what they need” in this optimistic intervention that challenges participants to see the good in the world that surrounds us.

Location: Summer Street Bridge over Fort Point Channel.

These projects are supported by a grant from the Fort Point Channel Operations Board with funds from the Chapter 91 Waterways Regulations License #11419 for Russia Wharf, now Atlantic Wharf and will be installed in and around the Fort Point Channel in conjunction with Open Studios.

Greenfield and van Ackere, with FPAC, applied for and received a planning grant from New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA) in 2011 to hire engineers to research how to make the project more permanent.

Redesigned to incorporate state of the art technology and a fully programmable interface, Starry Night is scheduled to brighten Fort Point for the next ten years.

The installation is best viewed from A Street at Summer Street (between Congress Street and Melcher Street), in the Fort Point Channel neighborhood of South Boston.

Starry Night is funded by Fund for the Arts, a public art program of the New England Foundation for the Arts and the Edward Ingersoll Browne Fund.

Color Quark, Michael Moss and Claudia Ravaschiere

October 2013

Harborwalk, Children’s Museum

Color Quark is inspired by quarks and the phenomenon of color confinement, merging science and whimsical art. Invented structures composed in vibrant colors cluster into configurations that echo the forms of molecules and challenge the public’s perception of the environment, creating an unexpected burst of color and shape along the Harborwalk.

Story Lines invited the public to emotionally and physically engage in reshaping the artists’ visions. The project explored the layers of development in one’s identity and the discoveries that emerge as multiple voices come together in a single realization.

Canopy was a laser projection that created a dimensional, impressionistic canopy with myriad points of green light layered of a cloudscape. Using holographic technology, the artists created an unexpected experience on the public walkway along the Fort Point Channel.

Dance Spot is an interactive public art piece that transformed Fort Point sidewalks into colorful dance floors.

A series of five “dance spots”, prominently located throughout the Fort Point neighborhood, each area had a dance diagram drawn on the sidewalk with colorful chalks. Paired with a particular song, there was an online component where visitors could go to learn the dances via video and see the dances performed by the artist.

Colorful large Buckyballs created from pool noodles were installed in the Fort Point Channel art basin, between the Congress St and Summer St Bridges. Buckyballs, named for Massachusetts born architect Richard Buckminster “Bucky” Fuller, popularized this shape in his geodesic domes during the late 60’s – early 70s. The universal shape recurs in design, art, math, science, medicine, technology and play. All of these are a part in the framework of the Fort Point neighborhood.

This project was made possible with the support of The Friends of Fort Point Channel

2011:

Title: Remodeling Project

Artist: Heidi Kayser

Date: 2011

Location: Fort Point Channel between Summer and Congress Streets

The Remodeling Project was a performative micro-environment that investigates ideas of public versus private activities in daily life, shared ideas of home, and boundaries between social and personal identities. Throughout the month of May, a small floating platform located between the Summer Street and Congress Street bridges will become a home base for an evolving narrative of constructed reality.

This project was made possible with the support of The Friends of Fort Point Channel

Street Cathedrals was a jewel-toned sculptural installation anchored to the light poles at several locations in Fort Point. These pieces engage the public by invoking the reflective quality of cathedrals with a post-modern sensibility to share the public presence of art and celebrate the urbanscape of Fort Point. They evoke the contemplative character of stained glass with a sense of whimsy and discovery as pedestrians travel through the Fort Point neighborhood.

The 450-foot fence was home to this community based art installation. Agudelo and McLeod collected text and images from contributors who live, work or play in Fort Point. The bits and pieces collected relay people’s experiences in Fort Point, and these elements are used in composing the art for installation. Silk-screened glass panels interacts with large embroidered cut-out silhouettes, bringing to life a visual record of their dialogue.

Location: A Street between Melcher and Wormwood Streets, and the railing descending from Summer to A Street

Colorful tape laid out in simple patterns and letterform shapes transform the Summer Street Bridge and the A Street fence. This installation engages the viewer by asking, “Who will imagine the future of all this?”

This project is funded by The Fund for The Arts, a public program of the New England Foundation for the Arts, made possible by generous support from anonymous donors

2009:

Title: Heads Up!

Artist: Brian Bresnahan

Date: 2009

Location: various locations around Fort Point

Photographer Brian Bresnahan’s project showcases portraits of Fort Point community members, installed at prominent outdoor locations throughout the Fort Point neighborhood. Bresnahan’s installation celebrates the identity of the Fort Point community.

FPAC is a tax-exempt 501(c)3 founded in 1980. Our mission is to enrich the Fort Point area with a resident live/work artist population that contributes to the district's and the City of Boston's cultural life. In addition to fees from our artist members, we depend on support from individuals, corporations, and foundations who appreciate the value of a vibrant arts community in Fort Point. Please consider becoming a supporting member or sponsor. Help keep art alive in Fort Point! Site by: Stoltze Design Site development: Circadia